PROUD MOMENT: Managing Director & CEO of Fomento Resorts and Hotels Pvt Ltd, Anju Timblo being presented the Pride of Goa – Business Lifetime Achievement Award. (Right) President and CEO of Visteon Corporation Sachin Lawande honoured with Pride of Goa
PANAJI
Celebrating vision, leadership and excellence, the Pride of Goa awards 2025 recognised two distinguished achievers — Anju Timblo and Sachin Lawande — for their remarkable contributions to business and industry in Goa and beyond on Saturday.
While Managing Director and CEO of Fomento Resorts and Hotels Pvt Ltd Anju Timblo was conferred the Kashinath Damodar Naik – Pride of Goa – Business Lifetime Achievement Award, President and CEO of Visteon Corporation Sachin Lawande was awarded the Kashinath Damodar Naik – Pride of Goa – Entrepreneur Award.
The awards were presented at Gomant Vidya Niketan’s Fomento Amphitheatre amidst an august gathering of industry stalwarts and dignitaries.
The awards, instituted jointly by Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) and the Kashinath Damodar Naik Memorial Trust were presented by industrialist Datta Naik and GCCI president Pratima Dhond in the presence of GCCI past president Shrinivas Dempo, industrialist Auduth Timblo, Sanjay Amonkar, Harshwardhan Bhatkule, Sandip Bhandari, Vijay Hede, Siddhesh Kurade and others.
Thanking the KDN Trust and GCCI for acknowledging her journey as a businesswoman, Anju Timblo shared her memories since her marriage to Auduth Timblo in 1973 and her entry into Goa, which was a totally new state for her. Recalling that the people of Goa were very helpful and supportive in all her endeavours, Anju Timblo said she never regretted coming to Goa for good.
“Great learning for me came from Adv. Manohar Sinai Usgaonkar and my mother-in-law. She taught me the Konkani language in six months, and I learnt that language is the real secret to becoming part of the system, as it opens many doors for you,” recalled Anju Timblo.
She also spoke about her career as a teacher in a law college and her life as a mother. “I often sat in meetings with my children, and with a cooperative family, I could balance my career as well as my interests in music, sports and academics,” she added.
Narrating the birth of Cidade de Goa, she revealed how she acquired the land on which the iconic hotel stands today.
“The owner of the land insisted that he would sell the entire property to me, admeasuring 30 acres. I succeeded in convincing my late father-in-law and my husband to buy the land, which brought us into the hotel industry. I did not have a hotel management degree, but I learnt instinctively, and the hotel grew from 104 rooms to 212 and now to 500 rooms,” mentioned Anju Timblo, who has recently started Araqila, a luxury resort in Sindhudurg.
In her concluding remarks, Anju Timblo expressed her desire to give back to society and to Goa, and appealed, “This land belongs to us, and we want the people here to grow. We must join hands to do better for Goa—morally, legally, socially and compassionately.”
Sachin Lawande, in his impromptu speech, narrated his journey from Taleigao to becoming a businessman in the USA.
One of the few Goans to have made a mark in the global corporate world, Lawande is currently serving as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Visteon Corporation, Michigan—a Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s leading suppliers of cockpit electronics.
Recalling that he left Goa in 1990 at the age of 23 to pursue a master’s degree in engineering, Lawande said that his decision was driven by necessity. “There were no jobs in Goa or in India, and leaving home was the only option for a better future,” he said.
“There were many sacrifices, resilience, and years of building from scratch. I made sacrifices to establish my career, staying away from my parents, who were my role models and mentors. This would not have been possible without the three women in my life—my wife, Anuja, and my two daughters,” expressed the brain behind Visteon.
